What a carrier sees before it makes an offer.
Insurance companies keep data on which lawyers actually try cases. This page is the part of that data Smith Trial Law can put in writing.
An appellate win, two decades in uniform, and third-party review.
A Supreme Court of Virginia win on a case of first impression
Shortly after beginning to practice, Cloyd Smith argued and won before the Supreme Court of Virginia — on a case of first impression, meaning the question had not been decided in the Commonwealth before. He established that a trust is not a contract enforceable under either the Federal Arbitration Act or the Virginia Uniform Arbitration Act.
The practical effect: a trustee cannot force a beneficiary out of court and into private arbitration merely because the trust instrument says so. Families keep the courtroom.
Boyle v. Anderson, 301 Va. 52, 871 S.E.2d 226 (2022) · Record No. 210382 · decided 14 April 2022
It matters beyond the case itself. An appellate record signals that a lawyer preserves issues properly at trial, and that an opponent who loses cannot simply wait the firm out on appeal.
A trial record that began before the bar card
Selected to serve as a Circuit Court Clerk. Before he was a barred attorney, he had already won seven bench trials and a felony jury trial.
Twenty-four years in the United States Army
Cloyd served 24 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel, and spent roughly half that career overseas. Airborne, Air Assault and Ranger qualified. Deployed to Bosnia, Iraq — seventeen months — Afghanistan more than once, and Egypt.
- Bronze Star
- Order of Saint Maurice, Centurion level — the infantry's own recognition
- Draper Leadership Award
Preparation under pressure is not a marketing posture here. He builds a case the way he was trained to plan an operation.
In the press
- Featured in The legal elite: 10 lawyers setting new standards in 2026 — published on MSN, September 2026
- His Supreme Court of Virginia win carried nationally by EIN Presswire and the National Law Review
- Appeared on Operation CEO, February 2026
- Cloyd Allen Smith of Smith Trial Law: From Battlefield to Courtroom — Grit Daily News
- Interviewed for the U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute oral-history collection
Reviewed by third parties, not by us
- Lawyers of Distinction — 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026
- Top 3 Trial Attorney, Northern Virginia — 2025
- Best Trial Attorney, Fredericksburg — 2026
- 44 five-star client reviews, and counting — read them on Google
Verdicts & judgments
Won at the Supreme Court of Virginia on a case of first impression regarding trust arbitrability; the underlying matter was thereafter resolved through a settlement agreement.
Second chairing with another attorney, Cloyd obtained a defense verdict on behalf of the clients against claims arising from a family trust and power-of-attorney dispute, including undue influence and fraud allegations tied to the family business properties. Clients retained ownership of the contested real estate and business interests.
Obtained a defense verdict for the client on first hearing on the plaintiff's attempt to enforce a contract. The court held that draft versions of the contract and the emails negotiating it were not a contract. Cloyd then won a defense verdict on the claims tried in the first bifurcated, multi-day trial — against two other law firms. The remaining issues in the matter were thereafter resolved by settlement.
Obtained a defense verdict for clients against claims of fraud, conversion and breach of contract following a week-long jury trial.
Appealed a General District Court ruling and obtained a defense verdict of not liable on behalf of a business in a contract dispute.
Obtained judgment for a client on a fraud and breach-of-contract claim.
Obtained judgment for a defendant on a breach-of-contract claim during a motion to strike.
Obtained judgment for a client on a motion to strike the plaintiff's evidence at trial.
On figures
These are outcomes, not amounts. Where a matter resolved by settlement the terms are confidential, and this firm does not publish numbers it cannot tie to a matter and repeat under scrutiny.
A lawyer who settles everything quietly gets quiet offers.
Smith Trial Law prepares every case for the courtroom — which is precisely why most of them never need to get there.
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